Cord drum and traverse for venetian blinds



March 13, 1956 a. c. LAWSON 2,738,142

CORD DRUM AND TRAVERSE FOR VENETIAN BLINDS Original Filed June 7, 1947 Fla Fla Fla? 7 anoamw 2,138,142 CORD DRUM AND TRAVERSE non VENETIAN BLINDSJ,

Gottfrid C. Lawson, Cleveland, Ohio,,a ssignor to E; Lawson; Cl evelarimflhid Original application June 7, 1947, Serial No.:1;7.53,216,

now,=.Patent Nos-2,641,145 dated (June 1-9., 1953. Di-

. vidcdiand, this applicationhSeptember :18, 1 952 Serial This invention relatesto reductiondrives, and more partictilarlyflo af drive use ful for a Venetian-,blindtor effecting theftilting-of theslatsi of the blind: Although ap'plicatiodis a "division of my copending application,

Refetring' to the drawings,i;through ut-whid 1 Pa isi designated','by *like I reference; characters, and emote, particularly to Fig" 1, there, is illustrated one end ,OIft ,a'head rail for, a Yenetian" blindfillustratingits manner' of attachnient'to a windowcasingt:

"' As'" illustrated, thelhad rail includes a U-shaped channel member which includesl side wa1lsl1I- and;a

proper includesf twq or moreladder tapeswhich support Ser. No. 753,216, filed June 7, 1947, now PateritfNo.

236413-145 of June'9,"'19 53 Heret'o'fore; it"has been most common to provide a Venetian 'hlind whichincluded a head rail for securing the same" to thewir'idow-casing; Belowthelheadrail and,

supportedin suitable'bearings-therefrom a; tiltfirail which -carried-lad'd'r" tapes. The laddertapes in turn supported' t'he -s-lats. *In order to close fla blihd of this character; -the tilt rail -is tilted which; causes the ladder tapes to he'raised *onone side" and lowered-oh the other,

tilting 'or closing the-slats. Many' different nieahs have bee ti -proposed for tiltiii the headgrail-including 'cords snubbed--a'round the tilt rail -'-ahd -gear drives "operatedgby a cordand connected-to'thetilt 'railri Inasmuch as separate head and tilt-jraiis ,take up considerable space, it is desirable to combine the'ri'r into one unit-. Onemezihsdonteinplatedis menses; a. hollow head rail; with the .tiIting-Iriechanism idisposedrinside. 'I-histype of mechanism makes the utilisation of aproper tiltiiig mechanism expensivew By' my'present invention,- lhaveprovided a drive; for 7 a tilt inechanismi which is simple and; economicalxt'o manufacture, -easy to install and tree ffroin service diificultie's aftersihstallationr Anotheh disadvantage of the prior mechanism-resided in the ability to rnaintain proper engineer of the for efiecting 'the tilting These cords had at'e'ndencynto run up" on one another and otherwise-f becbme gtangled is no possibility of thef-cord heingdisplaced gor tangled,

description of some ehibodiments thereof; whichf'desjcrip- ,7

tion is illustrated by the accompanying drawings and forms a part of ,the specification. V

In the-drawings" Fig. 1 is .annclevational; view of.:,the%mechanisrn, the frontwalltof the housing being broken awayyy;

moved mpthendus'ing;

Fig. 3 is a view "taken from, a. plane gindicated by the line 33 of Fig. 2; v

Figs. 4 and 5 are side and edge elevational views of the cord guide removed from the drum;

Fig. 6 is an elevational view of a cord drum used in my invention, with the cord removed;

Fig. 7 is a section taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a view showing the cord secured in place, the cord guide being shown in section.

,2"i's,.a viewoithetlcordr contrql mechanisrn resomewhat complicated; ditficult and .1 9

anddmniobihzethe operating mechanisnin Byr'nyl present f" support'thei'ebetween a 'cyl indrical ,dmm ,32, p I

be gof si nalleri diameter than A the ends p1ates which bottom '12) The channel member isof a'lengt'hvsuflicifent to extend between the side 'walls of a window casing. and

be 'removably supported (suitablebrackets, '14 ,fvvhich are secured to 'thelwindow casing '13 byf screws, 15. These brackets may also be chanh1 ,shaped,,in,order that therail may be .slifd in and out quickly and ea si1y. When the rail is injthefidesired position, it is., held"in place'by screws 1,6 'Whichfextendthrougli slots in the brackets and, are t'hreaded into the =-be;mm wal hlzflof therail. j

As is well known to those .versed in the art, tthe blihd slats; The blind hiay e raised and lowered in anyjwellknown mannef as by'cordsf2t1,whichgextend ,upward through a cord lock 21 into thejrail andlare' trainedlover the Qsheaves not, shown carried by brackets disposed on theb'ottom. of thehe'adrail. T'The cords, thenmextend downward'betweenthefside strips'of each ladder. tape and are- 'secur'ed to a bottom rail,- not, shown. All fof the foregoing; as well asthe rriodeof operatiomiiswell; known to those versedin the ar tvandii's' more clearly shown in my copendingfapplication. Suffice to say; when the. cords are "pulled," being attached 4 to the bottom -rail,,: the islats are raised, They'are held in the raiscdpositioin' ,by.. ,the

tote jlo'ckf211whichcah belof any conventionalform, or

December '15,}; 1942.

45 1 i f st ys sf ed The tiltfmember'; is mounted on thehexagonal rod -29 which 'extendslengthwiseiof the. headrail, one end being journal led infa hearing not shown, and thelotherl end supported by the tilting mechanism as shown in ,Fig. fl,

The operation of thejtilt member is efi ecte'd. by pulling acord..which' is trained around 'a phlleycordruniiaiid the rod.

TlheZdruin forgeceivii gthe, cord is' illustrated ill Figs. 6 to *-8 inclusive and itsf m'anner '(of utilizationillustrated cludes a; pairf of circular end'menibersfitllandfiilrfwhioh .the hdruin "theends. '1

t "In this" instance; the fiends-Q or the to bejrotata blyfjournalled in flandmslutr' outwardly curved "tongue 42 is provided opposite each notch and extends toward and above the notch. A shallow notch 43 is provided adjacent the base of each tongue.

The tilt cord 44 is secured to the drum as shown in Fig; 8 by forcing a portion'of the cord, preferably a section in the middle of the cord, into the slot '41 under the tongue; it then extends lengthwise of the drum inside and below the slot 40 coming out through the slot 41 on the other end. The notch 43 assists in permitting insertion of the cord, which operation would otherwise be interfered with by the cord guide, as well as adding resiliency to the tongue.

In operation, the drum being rotatably supported,

when one cord is pulled, the end pulled is unwound from the'drum causing it to turn, and the other end at the same time is wound up on the drum.

Guide means is provided to prevent tangling of the cords, to guide them in their winding and unwinding movement, and to prevent them from winding up on top of each other. As best shown in Figs. 4 and 5, it comprises a thin ring-like body 46 having an opening 47 of slightly larger diameter than the drum. The lower end of the ring is provided with cord guiding members which are formed integral with the ring by bending tongues 48 from the blank over on opposite sides to form closed substantially tubular channels 49 which open at their upper ends on opposite sides of the ring.

This guide is placed on the drum during assembly, the two ends of the cord wrapped around the drum until they abut the guide, after which they are threaded through the channels on opposite sides of the guide. The bottom ends of the channels are flared outwardly at 49 to provide a smooth guiding entrance and exit for the cords and prevent wear and fraying thereof.

The notch 43 enables the cord to be inserted when the ring 46 is in place. One manner in which this may be effected is that the end of the cord is inserted in the slot 41, the ring 46 moved over beyond the notch 43 and the .cord then brought up the other side of the ring through the notch 43. The proper desired length of cord being used, the cord is then slid in the slot and notch to approximately the middle of the cord, and then it is forced down below the slot 40 and brought up through the opposite end slot 41. The cord is then wound up on opposite sides of the guide until the drum is filled with the convolutions, after which the ends of the cord are threaded throughthe guides 49. Thereafter, when one of the cords is pulled, the guide separates the winding and unwinding sections sliding lengthwise of the drum as the windings increase on one side and decrease on the other. In this manner, the cord parts, as they leave and/or wind on the drum, are guided by the guide in an extremely smooth and regular manner. The drum is thus rotated in a direction depending upon which cord is pulled.

As previously stated, a bearing bracket supports one end of the drum. The other end of the drum, as can best be seen in Fig. 3 is provided with an eccentrically disposed bearing journal 52, adapted to receive and support therein a drive gear of the reduction arm, all of which is clearly shown in my patent application.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a cord rotated mechanism for driving the gear drive which is simple in operation, economical to produce and wherein the cord may be changed by persons of little mechanical ability. By this invention, the drum may be rotated smoothly for several revolutions and there is no danger of it becoming tangled, and it is not pulled off when the limit of rotation is reached in either direction.

Having thus described my invention, I am aware that numerous and extensive departures may be made therefrom without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A cord rotated drum comprising a barrel, end flanges for the barrel, a cord secured to the barrel extending into the barrel adjacent one flange and longitudinally of the barrel below the surface thereof and out of the barrel adjacent the other flange, the ends of said cord being wound around the barrel in opposite directions, a guide for separating the convolutions of one end of the cord from those on the other end comprising a ring slidably disposed on the barrel, guide means supported by said ring and formed to receive said cord therethrough, said guide means opening on opposite sides of said ring to receive the cord as it comes off'of or onto the barrel.

2. A cord rotated drum comprising a barrel, end flanges for said barrel, cord means secured in said barrel and having ends extending from said flanges and wrapped around said barrel in opposite directions toward each other, a guide comprising a ring portion disposed around said barrel between abutting convolutions of said oppositely wound cord ends, guide means for said cord ends carried by said ring and said cord ends being trained through said guide means, said cords adapted to impart a rotational movement to the barrel when one of them is pulled to unwrap one cord from the barrel and wrap the other cord on the barrel and said guide means-being slidable longitudinally of the barrel between the wrapping and unwrapping convolutions and to separate the one set of convolutions from the other.

3. A cord rotated drum including a barrel, end flanges for said barrel, said barrel being formed with a slot extending longitudinally thereof and terminating in portions extending circumferentially in opposite directions, tongues on said barrel extending in opposite directions over said slots and notches formed in said slots adjacent said tongues, a cord having its mid portion disposed in the barrel below said slot and extending out of the barrel through said end portions of said slot, said tongues directing the cord ends in opposite directions, said cord ends being wrapped around said barrel in opposite directions toward each other, guide means including a ring disposed on said barrel between the abutting convolutions of said cord ends, guide means carried by said ring and including separate channels for each cord end opening-on opposite sides of said ring, said cords being trained through said channels and when pulled adapted to wrap and unwrap from said barrel said cord guide separating and preventing interference between the wrapping and unwrapping convolutions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 669,283 Lindsay Mar'. 5, 1901 700,517 Lindsay, et a1 May 20, 1902 1,153,829 Rueckert Sept. 14, 1915 2,250,106 Lorentzen July 22, 1941 

